Lifeline
by digitalfletch
Summary: The final four episodes of Night Shift from Anna Devane's POV. Robert/Anna
1. Chapter 1

Anna Devane reached the hospital in record time in response to her daughter's panicked call. She raced through the corridors to the surgery unit, where Robin said she would be waiting for her.

"Robin?"

Robin sank weeping into her arms. "Mom."

"Robin? Robin? Robin - what is it? What is it?"

"I'm so glad you're here!" Robin gripped her like a vise, crying onto her shoulder.

"Sssh. Sssh, it's ok," Anna said, trying for comfort even as her heart was racing with concern. Something definitely wasn't ok, not for her extremely level-headed physician daughter to dissolve into a flood of tears like this.

"I can't do it anymore," Robin murmured brokenly.

Anna gasped, her worries redoubled. _What's going on?_ "What?"

"I'm so sorry."

Worry rapidly turning to alarm, Anna drew back to look her daughter in the eyes. She grasped her cold hands tightly. "What is it? What is it? Is it the baby?"

Robin daubed at her eyes with a crumpled tissue.

"Is…is Patrick ok? What is it?"

"No, Patrick's ok."

_Then what's happened?_ "What? Talk to me, Robin."

Robin looked up at her with sorrow shining in her large brown eyes. "It's Dad."

_Robert. _Anna straightened, her face hardening_._ _What about him? What's he done now?_ "What?"

"I'm so sorry," Robin was saying apologetically, her face crumpled with regret. "I wanted to tell you but he wouldn't let me."

A jolt of pure panic shot through Anna. _The hospital – is he here…Robin's face_…_Oh my god, something terrible has happened. _"What happened to Robert?" she demanded. When Robin didn't answer immediately she repeated with more urgency, her voice rising, "What's happened to Robert?"

Robin ground out a harsh sigh.

She needed to know. She had to know. _Now_. She gave her daughter's hands a sharp shake to get her to focus. "Robin."

"He has colon cancer."

Anna stared at her daughter as the words struck with the force of bullets. What did she mean, colon cancer? _When did -_

"And he had a complication tonight. He has an infection that spread bacteria into his bloodstream; and he just had emergency surgery."

_What?_ Her mind reeled. She tried to form a coherent word but only meaningless sound emerged.

"I'm sorry, Mom." Robin moved back automatically as a gurney surrounded by nurses was wheeled down the corridor towards them.

Anna took a few steps backward, unable to take her eyes from the still figure on the bed. It was Robert. Robert, being taken from the post-op room. _Oh my god._

"How'd it go?" she heard Robin ask, and only then did she become aware of Patrick, standing in the middle of the corridor in blue scrubs. _He must have been in the OR with Robert,_ Anna thought.

He looked from one to the other of them. His face was grave. "I wish I could say it went better," he said in a soft voice as Robin's face fell.

Anna felt her heart clench.

-----

Anna grabbed onto her daughter, holding her close about the shoulders as Patrick gave them the news.

"The cancer caused direticulitis, which are bulges in the colon that can become infected, rupture – it's a common side effect of colon cancer."

Anna nodded. She gripped Robin's hands hard, not sure any more who was trying to comfort whom. "Were you able to fix it, in surgery?"

"We washed his abdominal cavity with antibiotic solution. But, the infection had already spread to his spleen, which we had to remove."

"Well, that's ok," Anna said. "Isn't it? I mean, you know, people…" she took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair, suddenly uncertain, "survive without spleens, right?"

Patrick nodded, but looked no happier. "Yeah. Makes it harder to fight infection, which can become critical in his condition."

_This can't be happening. Robert_. "I want to see him," Anna said thickly as sorrow began to lodge in her throat.

"Absolutely," Patrick agreed.

Anna swallowed hard and pressed a kiss into her distraught daughter's hair as Robin wiped at her eyes with the tips of her fingers. _He's going to be ok. He must be. _She could feel the tears stinging her own eyes but resolutely resolved not to let them fall. She had to be strong now, for Robin. For them both.

"He's not going to keel over from the shock of seeing me, is he?" she asked Patrick in as practical a tone as she could muster.

"I can't promise anything – just don't go in there kicking him in the chest."

Robin gasped a laugh into Anna's chest as she held onto her mother for dear life.

Anna tried for a smile but it came out more like a grimace. "Ok."

"We did everything we could." Patrick assured them. "It's up to him now."

Anna nodded, more vigorously this time. _Ok, yeah. I understand. I need to see him now._

-----

Anna entered the ICU room and gingerly closed the door behind her.

Her eyes fell on him, lying there so still and vulnerable, and the sight drained all the warmth from her body. She gasped back a sob, then ducked her head in an attempt to gather herself, willing herself not to break down as she slowly approached the bed.

She stood for a moment, hands on hips, just looking at him. His bright blue eyes closed, his graying hair cut short against his scalp. _Oh, Robert. What's happened to you? _She could feel the tears begin to slide down her face and reached up quickly to brush them away.

Unable to restrain herself she reached out and touched her hand to the side of his face, gently running her fingers down his temple and cupping his cheek with her palm. Her thumb brushed lightly over his chin.

"Ah Anna," he breathed. His eyes were still tightly shut but the edges of his mouth curled upward into a ghost of a smile.

He still recognized her touch. She smiled faintly and dropped her hand, not wishing to intrude where she wasn't wanted.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." His eyes flickered open and he gazed at her with undisguised pleasure on his face.

His words, his expression, warmed her a little and she gave a tiny nod in response, brushing away the tears that continued to fall.

-----

She refused to be maudlin, or sentimental. She knew he would hate that. Instead, "You look like hell," she told him matter-of-factly.

"Well," he returned, his normally robust baritone voice reduced to a painful rasp, "I'm, uh, I'm gonna…lull them into a false sense of security…then I'm…I'm bustin' outta here."

_Good, he's trying to keep things upbeat, too._ "You're getting a bit old for that, aren't you – Gramps?"

He returned her smile. "Men don't age," he murmured. "They get character, like…red wine." He continued with a ghost of a teasing grin, "Now women…"

Anna breathed out a laugh. "You bite your tongue," she admonished, but grinned at him in genuine happiness. If he felt well enough to be teasing her then things couldn't be as bad as all that.

"If you're here to pick over my carcass – you're a little early."

_Carcass_._ No, please, not that._ Anna stole a glance out the window to where their daughter stood waiting anxiously, almost beside herself with worry. Abruptly a roiling wave of fear crashed over her once again – a rip tide threatening to pull her under. _Oh, god, he could really be dying…_ "Robin called me," she told him, unable to keep a blur of tears from her voice.

"Ah, oh," Robert groused unhappily, his face sour. A sigh came, deep and weary.

Anna pulled a stool over next to his bed and straddled it. "You know what's so funny," she began, fighting to keep her tone light and holding up a finger to emphasize her point, "while I've got my dancing shoes all picked out," she leaned on her hands against the side of the bed, "she's actually worried about you."_ Robin wouldn't worry like this unless things were truly desperate_.

"Yeah, she's like that."

She stroked his arm with a tenderness she couldn't bring herself to express aloud. "I, however, know better." She could feel unshed tears shining in her eyes. "You have died plenty of times, and we still can't get rid of you."

"That's 'cause…I know you would be devastated…"

He said it with a smirk, but the words cut like a sharp stiletto to the heart. _Oh, Robert. Do you have any idea how right you are? Do you care? Even after everything that's happened between us, I still care - so much more than you know. _She forced her lips into a smile to hide the deep hurt lacerating through her. "Clearly."

"Think we ditch this place," he went on, his eyes drooping nearly closed, "get back to the…back to the islands." His brow creased for a moment and he stopped, in obvious pain.

_I can't bear to see you like this._ "Well the last time we were there, you know," she replied briskly, wiping away a fresh trail of tears, "I think I knocked you out cold. Ah –" she looked down quickly before her mask of composure could slip – "you don't look ready for a rematch."

"Oh…I've got some new…moves." He drew out the word 'new' with deliberate relish.

She shook her head at him. He was good, she'd grant him that, but Casanova he wasn't. "I've seen all your moves."

"And?" he queried, getting back to the question at hand. "Dot dot dot…"

"It's a date." _I will promise you anything, Robert Scorpio, if it will make you well again._

-----


	2. Chapter 2

Anna adjusted her seat on the stool at Robert's bedside. It was time to cut the bullshit and get serious. _Don't shut me out, Robert. Not after everything we've been through together._ "So, what's going on with you?"

"Oh, thought I'd…you know," he drew a labored breath, "check in…and get a little rest."

_So much for serious._ She chuckled a little. That was so much like the Robert she remembered. "Uh huh." She said nothing more but just waited, letting him know that she wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily.

He huffed a martyred sigh and pressed his eyelids shut. "I didn't want you to see me…like…this," he admitted finally.

"Oh, Rob –" _How could he be like that?_ "Well, what were you gonna do, not tell me? This is not the time for your ridiculous pride."

His eyes flicked open and he gave a slight shrug. "You would have done the same thing," he noted, catching her gaze and holding it with his own as he silently dared her to contradict him.

She had to look away. "They gave me the rundown on your condition," she said, staring down at her hands running along the blankets where they fell over the edge of the bed. _Bad_. It was bad and they both knew it.

"Ah," his expression soured, "gotta love…doctors…especially the one our…daughter's running with."

"He's a good guy." Anna felt compelled to defend Patrick. After all, he had just helped Robert get through surgery.

"She has horrible taste in men."

_Not hardly…_ "Well, she takes after her mother."

Robert laughed painfully.

It was horrible to see him like this, helpless and in pain. "Everybody's really scared for you." _I'm really scared for you, too._

His glance touched hers again, and he briefly nodded as he acknowledged the unspoken sentiment behind the words. "I'll tell you the truth," he said. "I'm scared too."

Anna leaned in towards him, tears flowing freely now as she clutched his hand in hers, running the other over his arm and chest in a wordless attempt at comfort. _It's going to be ok. It must be. Don't leave me, Robert. I would be so lost without you around._

-----

As Anna sat holding Robert's hand, Robin entered the room. "So what did I miss?''

"Nothing, love," Robert told her.

"We were just talking about –"

"Baby," Robert interrupted, "Roberta."

Anna laughed in disbelief. "We're not going to name the baby after you," she informed him tartly, smiling to take the sting out of her words. _He was incorrigible._

Robin moved to sit at the foot of the bed, and Anna reached out to place her other hand on her daughter's knee.

"I was thinking," Robert rasped as he grimaced in pain, "Roberta…Anna…"

"Oh," Anna exclaimed, her gaze holding Robert's, "Now that does have a certain ring."

"Well, Patrick is lobbying for Portia at the moment," Robin said, shaking her head.

"You can't name your baby after a car," Anna responded, playing the pun.

"And you can't keep it in a…closet," added Robert.

"It isn't a closet!"

"It's a dressing area," Anna informed him while Robin sputtered in protest.

"Give it a window…"

"You know what we could do," Anna thought aloud, "is expand the dressing area to include your shoe closet, 'cause it's not like you're ever gonna fit into any of those again."

"What?" exclaimed Robin as her mother cast a skeptical eye over her footwear. "I'm not gonna fit into my shoes after?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know how it happens, but no, I never fit into any of my shoes again. Or hats, come to think about it."

"At last," Robert broke in, "she admits to a big head."

Both Anna and Robin laughed. "So this is what you guys have been doing the whole time," Robin said.

"Yeah." Anna looked down at her hands. _And I wish you would stop it, Robert, stop using banter and insults to hold us at arms length. How can we help you if you keep pushing us away?_

"Well, the important thing," Robert glanced over at his ex-wife, "will it be…a Scorpio, or a…or a Drake?"

"Or a Devane," Anna supplied, resigning herself to indulging Robert's desire to keep the tone light. _I'll indulge you, Robert _–_ for now. But don't think for a moment that you're going to weasel out of a serious conversation forever._

Robert mock-frowned at her. "Why would it be a Devane?"

"Because it has _class_," she rejoined playfully.

"Ah." He chuckled. "It'll be a classy bastard, then," he breathed.

"Dad!" Robin protested, sounding hurt.

"Oh, no," Anna put out a hand to sooth her offspring, "she might get married."

"To Patty-cake?" he laced with light derision the nickname he'd bestowed on Patrick.

"Yeah, you don't know. Some men change after they get married."

"Didn't happen to me."

"No, no. You were always insufferable. You just got more so." She turned to Robin and said in a stage whisper, "Don't listen to your father, cause it just – he thinks he –"

"Don't listen to your mother," Robert said over her words, "she'd addicted to marriage."

_Hey!_ _Not fair!_ "Well, I was trying to get it right."

Robin laughed.

"Actually," Anna continued, running her fingers lightly over Robert's hand, "I was more addicted to the honeymoons." She looked briefly at her daughter, feeling nostalgic and mischievous, and then back to him. "Remember that villa in Italy?" she asked as Robin cringed.

"Ah," Robert breathed happily. "Yeah. The hot springs. For three weeks – I was a…I was a different man."

"Ok, thank you!" Robin exclaimed, pressing her fingers over her ears. "Burning a hole in the eardrums here."

Anna watched with a smile as their teasing had the desired effect. Robin's worried expression dissolved into warmth as she grinned affectionately at her father.

Robin rubbed the blankets over his leg, her face turning serious. "How are you?"

Robert sucked in a deep breath. "I'm gonna be good," he reassured her as his eyes slid closed.

She nodded a bit. "So, Dad, the…um…" she looked down, "the infection is still in your bloodstream so…the situation is still critical –"

"Hey!" Anna interrupted her. _You've borne this terrible burden alone for far too long._ She took Robin's hand in hers and regarded her sternly. "You don't have to do this any more. I'm here now, and we are going to get through this."

She turned to the man she had loved. The man she had never stopped loving, and loved still to this day. She swept up his hand and grasped it tightly, linking the three of them together. "All of us," she vowed.

----


	3. Chapter 3

She was sitting in the tall armchair at the foot of his bed downloading the latest research publications on experimental treatments for colon cancer onto her laptop when he woke again.

"For a moment I thought it was…1985," he commented, wheezing, "but then…you looked too old."

_So we're back to the insults, then. You must be feeling better._ "I look better than you," she returned, not looking up from the screen.

"How long you been sitting there?"

_Hours_. It was nearly morning now but she refused to succumb to the tiredness that scratched around the edges of her mind. "Long enough." She flicked her eyes up at him briefly. "How you feeling?"

"Never better," he gasped, inhaling heavily. "Surfing the porn channels?"

There was no reason for her to lie. He might want to make light of what he was going through, but that didn't mean everyone else had to. "I'm doing research, for you," she informed him. "I'm looking for experimental treatments for your condition. There's some…really fascinating studies coming out in Indonesia, and South Africa – and the Netherlands, actually." _So far away. They were so far away._

His voice was admiring. "You're…you're hacking into the World Health Organization."

"No, no, hacking," she replied as she set the laptop aside, her pervading sense of worry eclipsed for just a moment by a feeling of pleasure at his words, "that's for amateurs." She blew out a breath and slipped off her reading glasses.

"Anna Devane. Stealing…government…secrets, from an ICU room."

She smiled at him affectionately. "Nothing I haven't done before."

"Doctors here aren't good enough for you?"

"No," she stretched out her cramped legs and climbed to her feet. "They're excellent. Our daughter being one of them. You know, everyone can use a little help every now and again." _You included_, she added silently. She stared around her at the bags and monitors that bore mute witness to just how much medical help his ailing body was depending on right now.

"Besides." She drifted over to his side and ran one hand lightly up and down his forearm, suddenly needing reassurance that he was solid, that he wasn't going to disappear from her again. "I'm really good at getting into places people don't even bother trying."

"That…you are…my dear."

Anna gazed down at him, trying not to be terrified by his pallor, by the harsh rasping as he gasped for air. "We're going to beat this, Robert," she promised him solemnly. "We've tackled a lot worse."

He just stared at her, silent for once.

-----

Robin entered the room wearing her workday scrubs.

"Hey honey. Hi." Anna rose from her perch on the stool at Robert's side and kissed her daughter's hair, then draped an arm loosely around her shoulders.

"Dad. How you feeling?"

"Oh, he's in fighting shape, tell you that much."

He nodded in silent assent.

"That's good."

"Yeah."

Robin looked down at her shoes and sighed deeply. She turned away from the bed towards the window, Anna following. _She's looking really worried again._

"What?" Anna tried to brace herself for whatever bad news was coming next.

"Um. The fluid in his lungs hasn't subsided."

_That wasn't good._ "All right." Keeping herself tightly in check. _Was there more?_

"Which means we're looking at full onset pneumonia. Plus his body is having trouble fighting off the infection because of the colon tear."

_God, it's even worse than I feared._ She fought to keep her mind calm, her voice level. "So what's the treatment?"

"Well, the treatment is – we have him on the most rigorous course of antibiotics that we can, but his…his fever is still dangerously high –"

A voice from behind them interrupted, "Could we…not talk about me like…I'm a piece of furniture?"

Robin was immediately contrite. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"How much time?" he rasped.

Anna whipped her head around to stare at him in alarm. _No, Robert, you musn't think that way!_

"Dad! Dad, you can't think of it like that!"

"Robin. I gotta know. How much…time…do I have to fight this?"

_Yes, fight it! You must fight this, Robert._

"The next 48 hours are going to be critical."

Robert closed his eyes with a heavy sigh and sank back against the pillows.

"I'm so sorry, Daddy," Robin said with tears blurring her voice. "There's nothing else I can do."

_Oh, Robin. This has been so hard on you._ Anna pulled her daughter into her arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Sssh."

-----

Anna stood in the hallway staring through the slats in the ICU window, unable to tear her eyes away from the lone figure lying in the bed within.

"How's he doing?" she heard an unfamiliar masculine voice beside her ask.

"Um, not well, I'm afraid," she replied, too tired to sugar-coat the severity of Robert's condition, too tired to be anything but honest.

"He's a tough guy, he'll make it through," the man said positively.

Anna stood for a moment trying to absorb the much-needed reassurance into her soul. _Yes, he'll make it through. He must._ Turning finally to give this unknown supporter her full attention, she took in the sight of a man with short dark hair, a taut weightlifter's frame, and a police badge hanging around his neck. _I think I know who this _– "It's Jagger, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "I've heard a lot about you."

_You have? How?_ She curiously glanced back though the window. "What, from Robin?"

"From Robert – both of them, actually."

"Oh." Now embarrassment took over. _I'm afraid to even imagine what Robert might have said about me._

"Not to mention all the stories I've heard from the Bureau."

"Yeah, I'm afraid the FBI hasn't always appreciated my work." Her attention was drawn back to the scene in Robert's room like a magnet towards a lode of iron ore. Who cared about the FBI when he was laying in a hospital bed in critical condition?

"You guys had…quite a few adventures," Jagger noted.

_Oh yes. Some of the best times of my life. And now they might be over, forever._ She smiled tightly as a bittersweet wave of commingled joy and biting pain washed over her. "Yeah, we did."

"You love him a lot, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

_God. I love him more than I can possibly say._ Even after all the time that had past, and the physical and emotional distance between them… _Was it really so obvious?_ "Hmmm. Well, Robert and I live a life that's not really normal to other people." She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath, and turned to lean back against the windowsill. "It's not as glamorous as it's made out to be, either, is it? You know that."

Jagger nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Yeah." It felt so good, an unexpected gift, to encounter someone who knew how it was to be an agent, someone who could understand some of what she and Robert had been through. Someone who could help take her mind off the pervasive fear for him that was running its icy fingers up and down her spine.

And suddenly she could keep it bottled up no longer, the way she had come to feel about it all that she'd not even told Robin. "But there are days, I gotta say, when…" – she blew out a breath – "I'm out there…in some god-forsaken part of the world, chasing some… maniac with a bomb – whatever –"

She gazed off into the distance, unseeing. "I just can't get out of bed," she confessed. "I mean, what's the point?" _Bring one maniac down, and there's always another to take his place._ "And then I…I think…I know that" – she gasped a sobbing breath, trying to hold herself together as the tears began to gather again – "somewhere…out there… somewhere…in the world…"

She stared down at her hands, hurting, "Robert is doing the exact thing I'm doing. You know – he's fighting, and surviving." _God I've missed him so!_ "And it's the only thing that keeps me going." She put a hand to her mouth, choking back a sob as her volatile emotions seethed and roiled and threatened to engulf her entirely.

Then she remembered that she was pouring her heart out to a man she'd met only a few minutes ago. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. _I didn't mean to go to pieces on you._

But he was looking at her with compassion in his eyes. "Don't be. He gives you strength, doesn't he."

"Yeah." _He gives me strength. And he inspires me. He always has. _She wiped away the tears now sliding down the smooth planes of her face like rain along a windowpane. She couldn't seem to staunch the flow. "He's the one person in the world who understands what it's like to do what I do."

The misery and grief choking her throat made it hard to speak, but she needed to get the words out. "And he's the only one who knows what we've both sacrificed…to do it." She daubed at her eyes again, smearing water and mascara across her fingertips. "Oh, god."

Jagger stared though the window where Robin sat with her father. "You mean Robin, right?"

Anna nodded. "Yes, Robin." _But not only their beautiful daughter._ "And each other," she whispered, biting her lip as anguish overwhelmed her. _And each other. Leaving a hole in my heart where my soul mate used to be._

-----


	4. Chapter 4

Anna stood at Robert's bedside running a cooling cloth over his hot, burning skin.

"Don't do this for me," he begged her.

"Robert come on, you don't have any choice in the matter." She pressed the cloth gently to his forehead. _God, he's burning up._

"Anna," he groaned, clearly in both physical and emotional torment. "Please."

Reluctantly she subsided, settling back onto the stool. She took his hand. "Honey, you've seen the best and the worst of me, and you've never turned away." _Please, Robert, I can't bear this distance between us._ Extending a soft and giving smile, she tried not to let the hurt show. "If there's one person in the world you don't need to hide from, it's me."

He exhaled a bitter-sounding sigh. Then, his eyes snapping open to gaze directly at her, he asked with a world-weary solemnity, "Cards on the table?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "What?"

"I can't do this." His voice was almost a cry. "I…I can't win this one." His eyes were now squeezed tightly shut, and his head rose from the pillows as he struggled for breath. "Every…every…hero…has his moment…and I think my time…has run out!"

He began to weep, harsh, wracking sobs that cracked Anna's heart in two.

Heedless of anything beyond the imperative to comfort him, to do whatever she could to ease his agony, she clambered onto the bed to take him in her arms. "Shhh."

He clung to her, suddenly fragile and broken-seeming in a way she'd never seen him before, shaking like a frightened child, grasping onto her as if she were the last thing in the whole of existence that he could hold on to.

"Robert, Robert, shhh," she begged as she cradled his head against her chest, her world shrunk down to encompass nothing but him. "Robert, Robert, no no no no. No, no," she repeated like a mantra. _You musn't give up on me! Please don't give in. Hold on for me._ "Come on. Come on, come on, come on." She tightened her embrace and held on for dear life.

-----

She lay beside him, at peace, feeling her heart beating in time with his.

"I'm sorry for all the time we spent apart."

_It doesn't matter now. Nothing matters, except this._ "Don't go soft on me, Scorpio."

"No. I'm serious."

_I'm sorry, too._ "Would you have done anything differently, really?" Already knowing what the answer would be.

"No."

_Would I? Oh god. Where to start? I would have forgiven you when I met you on the island. After I got my memory back, I would have tried to confirm what the WSB had said about your death. I would have decided not to frame Holly. I would have told you about Robin. I would have confessed to you that I was a double agent. I would never have lied to you. I would have chosen you instead of Duke._

_I would never have let you go._

So many things she would have done differently given the chance. But it was too late for regrets. And she was a big girl. She'd made her choices and there was no use crying over spilled milk, as her father used to say. "Well, then, dot dot dot."

He toyed with her hair, the way he'd always loved to do. "Your hair…" he murmured.

"What about it?" _Is it sticking up? Am I getting bed hair?_ She smoothed it down where his fingers had been. "Don't…don't mess it up, ok?"

"Reminds me of a…of a…of a mane."

"What, like a lioness?" she asked, filling with delight at the unexpected compliment.

"More like a horse," he returned in a teasing voice.

She reached up playfully. "You know, all I have to do is pull out one of these tubes –"

He intercepted her hand, folding it in his. "It's beautiful," he assured her, his smile wide and loving.

"Thanks," she whispered. _How I've missed you, Robert._ She rested her forehead against his and tenderly caressed the fingers that held her own.

"I'm…I'm gonna hate myself for this," he started slowly, confessionally. The gravity of his tone made her feel very dense, very heavy for a moment.

She waited, wondering what was coming next. "What?"

"I always…thought that…after the final mission…we would have found our way back together again…" His head lolled against hers, as though he was being drained of all the energy, all the life he possessed and could do nothing but lean on her for support, for his very survival.

Anna turned her head away, closing her eyes as tears burned behind her eyelids. Her heart filled to bursting to hear his words that so closely mirrored her own long-hidden, deeply buried, and yet secretly cherished desire. _Yeah_, she mouthed silently, choking on remorse. Wiping away tears that stung like vipers. _Me too._

"Some remote place, bucket of Mai Thais. Just…be old and grey together."

She nodded, smiling at the image, and crying silently, helplessly, for what would never be. "Yeah. I never doubted that for a minute," she told him intently, imbuing the words with all the surety that anchored her to him, deep in her soul. "Not for a minute."

"Who'd have thought…" he snorted, and she could feel his regret like a physical presence between them, "…we'd run out of time."

For a moment she could barely breathe as a searing, blazing grief threatened to consume her. She turned her head to gaze into his blue eyes, eyes that had captivated her from the first instant they met. Eyes that were now filled with sorrow and pain. _We're not going down like this, Robert. Not like this._

An idea blossomed in her mind, fully formed, and she found herself profoundly thankful for its timing. Running her tongue across her lips, she glanced once again at his face before repositioning herself on the bed.

"Ok, so." She wiped at the river of tears and exhaled, waved her hands around the room. "Screw the Mai Thais – we don't have those." She wiggled closer to him. "But, um, this is our beach chair, okay? And right out there –" gesturing towards the foot of the bed with both hands – "is our ocean. It's so beautiful."

She felt him take her hand. "And hell, you know," she motioned towards his hair, "you're already grey, so…got that part."

She leaned back down into him. _We don't need an island, Robert. All we need is us._ _Together, like we should always have been._

He pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, Anna Devane."

Anna brought her hand to her mouth as a flare of joy erupted like a supernova in her heart, radiating warmth throughout her body. _I never thought I would hear those words, ever again._ This time the tears that fell were tears of happiness. "I love you, Robert Scorpio. I love you so much!"

She put her hand to her mouth again, trying not to sob. Burrowing into his side, she pressed her face against his cheek and turned to spoon herself tightly against him, once more needing to borrow his strength as he enveloped her in an embrace that spoke more volumes than mere words ever could. _I'll love you 'til my dying breath. Don't die on me, Robert. Don't die on me, please._

-----

Robert slept. Anna kept watch at the foot of his bed, huddled with a blanket in the tall armchair. She'd been sitting in it for so many hours now that it seemed to have molded itself to her backside. Or vice versa. Every ounce of her being was so intently focused on Robert that she was only dimly aware of Patrick checking his monitors. "Tell me there's been a change."

"His temperature's gone up."

_Not what I wanted to hear._ "I thought you said you were giving him the strongest antibiotics."

"Without his spleen it makes it…difficult to fight infection."

_Yes. I know._ She stared silently at Robert, willing him to hold on with everything that was in her. _Come on, Robert!_ _Fight! Don't give up. I won't let you._

"When was the last time you went home?" Patrick asked.

"I'm fine." _Home is right here._

"Maybe you should go get some –"

"Patrick!" She didn't want to hear it.

Patrick shook his head and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Apparently he was coming to the conclusion that she was every bit as stubborn as her daughter was. _Well, where does he think she gets it from?_

"Robin and I will, uh, we'll watch him tonight," he told her.

She was grateful for that, and for the note of sadness she could hear in his voice. He really did care, this brilliant young doctor of Robin's. But she wasn't going anywhere.

Patrick stared down for a moment at Robert, and then over at Anna. "He's lucky to have you."

_Yes, he is._ "Yeah, well…" For the first time she allowed her focus to shift momentarily away from Robert's still form to look Patrick in the eyes. He was the one person in the world who would understand what she was about to say. "Once you love a Scorpio, right?" She let her voice trail off. _Once you do there's no going back. You're theirs for life – for richer, for poorer, for better…or for worse._

Patrick nodded knowingly. "Ain't that the truth," he agreed.

-----

Robin joined her, later, coming to stand near the head of the bed as Anna reclaimed her perch on the stool.

"He's not in any pain, is he?"

"No," Robin reassured her immediately. Her brow creased and she looked down at him as though to verify her words. "He shouldn't be."

Anna stared at Robert's unresponsive form. As much as anything she hated the toll this vigil was taking on their child. _No, this isn't a vigil,_ she corrected herself sternly. He wasn't going to die. He couldn't die. She needed him too much. She'd thought she'd lost him once before, and had nearly gone out of her mind as a result. _How can I love you so completely when you've caused me so much grief?_

"Robert. Listen to me." She leaned forward, covering his limp hand in both of hers. Her heart ached unbearably and her taunt nerves rebelled against the almost intolerable strain they were under – the strain of not knowing, of hoping for the best…but fearing the worst. "Don't let go. You hear me? Because I won't let you go," she told him fiercely. "I won't. I still need you." _I've never depended on any man – except for you. And I've never truly needed any man. Except for you._

She slammed the blankets with her fist in sudden impotent, frustrated rage against the situation, against the world, against the fear that clawed away at her insides. _Damn it. Why doesn't he respond?_ "Robert!"

Robin's breath caught in a sob. She reached for a penlight on the counter and then moved towards her father's head.

Anna pulled herself sharply away from the bed to allow her daughter room to work.

Picking up Robert's right eyelid, Robin shone the light back and forth across his retina. Clicking off the light, she sniffed and leaned heavily on her elbow, looking defeated.

_No._ Anna, teardrops shining on her face, looked quickly from Robert to Robin. "What is it?"

No response. Robin brushed one hand over her wet cheeks.

She fought down panic. _Tell me what's happened!_ "Robin!"

"He's fallen into a coma."

Anna's body went cold from head to foot. She stared at her daughter, and then back at Robert, in shock and disbelief and a gathering sense of dread. _No. No, oh god please, no._

-----


	5. Chapter 5

Anna gripped Robin's hand tightly between her palms. It was morning now. Robert's condition, though critical, was stable, but there had been no change during the night.

"He's going to get through this, you know." _He must._ She'd spent the past thirty odd years with the impossible, devilish, wonderful man who was Robert Scorpio in her life. She didn't think she could face the prospect of spending the next thirty years without him. _Don't leave me, Robert – I couldn't bear it if I lost you again._

"Where do you think he is?" Robin asked.

She shook her head. "I…" It took a moment for the words to come. "I don't know."

"It's strange, you know," Robin mused. "Patients in a coma - it's like their bodies are here but their minds are someplace else. Like they're in some sort of limbo." She furrowed her brow. "Come back to us, Dad."

_Come back to us, Robert, my love. Please come back._

-----

"Mom." Robin was shaking her shoulder.

Anna roused from a deep and bone-weary sleep in the armchair the nurses had helped her move next to Robert's bed. It took her a moment to focus. "Yeah."

She'd lost all sense of place and time in here, but she still refused to consider leaving his side, even for an instant. They'd lost so much time together, so many years – _I promise you, Robert,_ she vowed, silently but fiercely, _we won't lose a single moment more._

"Mom!"

The barely suppressed excitement in her daughter's voice snapped Anna into full wakefulness. She looked over at the bed, hoping beyond hope – and saw his eyes, his beautiful, open eyes, regarding her.

She nearly leaped out of the chair, coming to stand behind Robin as her mind tried to catch up with what her eyes were telling her. _He's awake. Oh, Robert. Thank god._

"Oh…" Leaning forward she pressed a fervent kiss against his brow, holding on to him with a life-affirming desperation as she tried to wordlessly convey all her love and the sheer, boundless relief that had overtaken her. Pouring through her hands and lips all the frantic, delirious joy flooding her system, jubilant and exhilarated and exhausted all at once. Wanting to breathe on the spark of life re-igniting within him and fan it into a bonfire.

Drawing back she gathered Robin into a fierce hug, smiling in delight, her eyes riveted to Robert's. He seemed to drink in the sight of them like a parched man stumbling across water in a desert, and to Anna his loving gaze was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. She perched gingerly on the edge of the bed where she could reach out and touch her daughter's arm and at the same time caress his precious face.

-----

As Anna and Robin stood together in Robert's ICU room, the muffled sound like a detonation carried clearly from outside the building.

"That sounded like –" Anna started.

"A bomb," she and Robert finished together as their eyes instinctively sought one another's.

Robin breathed, "Patrick…"

_If it was a bomb…the white supremacists…he could well have been the target._ "Go, darling!" Anna insisted as her daughter stared through the window into the hallway, trying to make out what was going on.

Robin nodded and made for the door, biting her lip.

"You too!" Robert demanded of Anna as he pushed himself more upright in the bed.

"I'm not leaving you," she replied sharply. _If there's been one bomb, there could be another. I have to get him to someplace safe._

She raced into the hallway, calling out for assistance. "I need some help in here!" She grabbed a passing nurse and all but dragged her into the room.

"What's goin' on out there?" Robert demanded as he struggled to lever his still-weak body off the mattress and onto his feet.

Anna rushed to his side, firmly pressing him back down onto the bed.

"You cannot get up," the young nurse, who looked to be about Robin's age, admonished Robert.

Anna forced herself to remain calm. Drawing on her years of WSB training she fought to control her pumping adrenaline and addressed the nurse in a steady voice, "You need to help me get him out of here." He was just starting down the road to recovery. _If anything happens to him…_

"Oh, we can't unhook him from these machines."

_Damn. Ok then, we'll just have to -_

"You gotta go," Robert told her urgently.

"No, no." _I'm not going._

"I'll get some help," the nurse promised, heading back into the hallway.

_Please hurry. _"Thank you."

"I'm telling you –"

"Stop it!" _I'm not leaving you. Not again. Not ever._

He was breathing hard, far too agitated. _He has to calm down._ She slipped into the bed beside him, "Ok, we'll just wait this out together, all right?" Sliding her arm around his shoulders, both to protect and to comfort. "Whatever happens."

-----


	6. Chapter 6

_Such good news, and after only a week!_ Anna couldn't help but beam and bounce on her heels like an over-excited schoolgirl as she and Robin came to tell him the latest test results. "Are you gonna tell him or should I?"

"No, no, go ahead," Robin said generously.

"No, you should tell him – you're a doctor. Come on."

"Hey, hey, hey, ladies," Robert interjected. Their obvious enthusiasm was infecting him and he grinned. "Talk to the patient."

"Your white count is down to normal, and your chest x-ray is clear."

"And that's…in English?"

Robin chuckled. She clarified, "Your body is finally responding to the antibiotics. And… your cancer tumor markers…have dropped considerably."

For a long moment Robert just stared at them, speechless for once. Then he blinked and looked away, obviously struggling to take in the news.

Anna sat on the side of the bed and leaned toward him. "You're beating it, Robert." God knew she had needed to hear Robin say it several times before she could allow herself to believe it was true. That he was coming back to them. _And that the world is turning once again._

He still looked overcome, on the verge of breaking down. Then he smiled sweetly as he pretended to take it all in stride. "Well, time to celebrate with a suite at the Belleview, I think. You know," he added to Robin, "apart from me, your mother never could keep her hands off the mini-bar."

_Liar_, Anna thought affectionately as Robin groaned. _The second part definitely isn't true._

"Well, actually, um…Mom found this experimental trial for a new drug protocol."

"In Switzerland," Anna added. _Not as far away as South Africa, or Indonesia._

His face fell. "But you said I was beating it."

"Things are looking really good. But, you're not out of the woods yet."

He glanced from Robin to Anna.

"So this treatment, right," she told him, needing him to understand that this was good, this was _hope_, "it's um…" _What were the exact words, again?_ "Monoclonal –"

Robin nodded.

"Yeah, it's monoclonal antibodies." Gesturing, trying to get the meaning across. "And, and, what it does, it can increase your chances of just staying cancer-free." _And living a long and happy life. With your family. With me._

"Or kill me," he said, viewing the cup half empty.

_God you can be such hard work, sometimes._ "Robert, right about now you should be thanking us, I think."

He had the decency to look abashed. "Switzerland, huh?"

Anna nodded. "Bern." _Come on, Robert. Don't back away now._ She shrugged casually, hoping to conceal how desperately she wanted this to happen, how keenly she needed him to be well. "There's a bed, with your name on it, waiting for you." _Thanks in no small part to some words to the clinic on your behalf from both Patrick and Monica._ "As soon as Dr. Scorpio says you're ready to travel."

-----

She wheeled him into his new room in the cancer wing of GH and started to help him into the bed.

"Careful, careful," she admonished as he raised himself up from the wheelchair and then turned precariously, leaning heavily on her arm. _Robert, just take it easy._

"No, I haven't forgotten how to walk, you know," he replied irritably.

"Just like you haven't forgotten how to be a pain in the ass, apparently." She brushed her hair back behind her ears and pushed the wheelchair back a little so he could swing his legs up onto the bed.

"Do they have a vaccine for that?"

_I wish._ "No, not yet. They don't have it." She smoothed the blanket over his legs.

He wiggled around in an attempt to get comfortable.

"Oh gosh, that's good," she murmured to herself and then sank tiredly back into the empty wheelchair, exhaling sharply. That had taken more effort than she'd thought. Toussaint had offered to assist her in bringing Robert up to his new room but she'd waved him off. Now she was regretting it.

They sat for a moment in relative peace and quiet.

He was looking so much better. His face had color now and his eyes were clear. _I am so happy that you're out of the ICU, Robert. I came too close to losing you. Far too close._ "You gave everyone quite a scare, you know."

"Everyone?" he asked pointedly.

_I was terrified for you. But I'm not about to tell you that. It would make your head even bigger than it is already._ "Well, they were worried." _Robin and the others._ "Yeah me…I took a…couple of days holiday, in the city."

He grinned at her. "You lie like a rug. You never left my side." His grin widened into a beam of delight at the memory.

She couldn't help but smile back. "You must have hallucinated that, in your coma." Suddenly it seemed like an excellent idea to get up and rearrange his blankets. And avoid his knowing eyes.

"You know, it was a pretty crazy trip."

_What was it like?_ She came to rest on the edge of his bed, within easy reaching distance. "Oh yeah? See anything good?"

He rubbed her knee and she pressed her hand over his. "I hooked up with some old friends," he told her, his voice full of wonder. "They…told me that…Robert Scorpio was far from finished." Just for an instant his tone hardened into a timber that she recognized from three decades ago. A timber that said nothing would stop him, that nothing in the world would keep him from reaching his objectives. That the immoveable object had no chance if it stood in the way of the irresistible force that was Robert Scorpio.

_How I've missed that man. _She looked down at her hands. She'd already given this a lot of thought, but actually saying it aloud to him was going to require a deep plunge into the well of courage. _I have no idea how he's going to respond to this. Oh well. Nothing ventured…_ "I've been thinking…" she began slowly.

He groaned and shut his eyes as if in pain. "Oh, no."

_Oh, stop it._ "I'd really like to see you through this. You know, get you back on your feet."

"I think you already have." The deep sincerity in his voice, in his gaze, warmed her to her core.

"No…" _That's not what I meant. I want to…I want...oh, how can I say it._ She adopted a faux-military tone. "My assignment here is not yet complete." Then, just in case he really didn't get it, "I'm coming with you. To Bern."

He looked at her. Looked – surprised, astonished, grateful. Unsure.

-----

She stood at the foot of his bed, going through the papers in her day planner one more time. He was up but leaned heavily on a cane, watching her silently.

"Well, I'm gonna head down to New York tonight, be at the consulate first thing in the morning to get our Visas. Alright, now." Checking the documents. "Visa applications, these are the passports…"

She flicked a glance at Robert's, checking that the dates were all – _what was that?_ She opened her passport, then his again. Her jaw dropped. _I don't believe it._ "Oh, my god. You are two years older than you said you are." She grinned like a cat that's found a live mouse in the sock drawer. _How did I not catch that before?_

"Mind if I see your passport?" he asked dryly.

_Yes, actually, I do. Um...ok, I guess I'll have to find something else to needle you about._ Dropping her eyes from his she started to gather everything together. "Right. So then I'll be back in the evening to pick you up, and then we can catch the flight to Bern. Ok?" There was something about his silence and the almost tangible weight of his regard that was beginning to make her uneasy.

"I don't want you missing the wedding. I mean – whenever that is."

_I don't want to miss it, either. And I don't want you to miss it. But this is the one thing even more critical, to both of us, than that. _She tried to shrug. "Robin's independent, you know, and she understands that your health is more important."

He looked away from her. Quietly, "I don't want you doing this."

_Here it comes. Don't do this, Robert._ Willfully misunderstanding, she briskly replied, "It's the only way. Really it's the quickest way, because we…we don't have time to wait for these papers to be processed."

When he looked her full in the face his eyes were dark. "I mean…taking care of me."

She stilled.

"I wanna be that man that you fell in love with. Not this invalid."

_Oh Robert, you are that man that I fell in love with, don't you see that? The man that I still love. _She drew close to him and stared hard into his eyes. _Don't you feel the same?_

Anna took a deep, searing breath, filling her lungs. A cleansing, hopeful breath. Then she deliberately let down her guard and prepared to bare her soul. _Vulnerable. So very vulnerable. But then, I've always been vulnerable to you._ "I don't know about you, Robert, but I was serious before – about what we said. I always did think that we would find our way back to each other. I always thought that."

He cocked his head and peered at her intently. "Bucket of Mai Thais?"

"Yeah." _You and me. Together. For the rest of our lives._ She reached up to brush a hand over his ear, stilled it against the pulse at his neck. Holding onto him. Feeling connected, simply cherishing for a moment the reality of the bond between them that over time had frayed at the edges but still held fast. On the verge of tears, but fighting them back as they crowded into her eyes and clogged her throat. _I need to get this out._ "I'm not willing to wait any more." _Not any more. Not after everything we've been through. _She shook her head. "And I can't risk…not getting to that day."_ Not after all the times we've nearly lost each other. Please, Robert._

"Oh…" He drew out the sound as though it presaged the biggest, most monumental revelation of his life. "Oh, I do love you!"

"You do?" She resisted the urge to close her eyes as her heart fluttered and then flew. _Yes, I know you do. But it means so much to hear it again, now, when your life isn't hanging by a thread. When there's a future for us to look forward to. _"I love you too." _I've never stopped loving you – even when I've wanted to._

She pulled him to her, and as felt his arm close around her waist her heart began to pound and her breath to hitch just slightly in anticipation. Slowly, almost reverently, they drew together into a kiss.

It wasn't soul-shattering, or mind-blowing. The earth didn't move, and the stars didn't fall from the sky.

It was oh so tender, the subtle, simple joining of their lips. Warm, delicate, unrushed, without the vaguest sense of expectation or demand. It was a tasting, a sampling as of the finest champagne in the world, never known, only dreamed of by connoisseurs.

It was like the pull of a tide, lapping gently but relentlessly against the sands of her consciousness as their mouths sealed more fully. Their tongues began to dance together in a slow, intimate two-step and the once-forgotten familiarity of his taste re-kindled a fire that began to lick and burn deep in her gut, melting the ice that had been encrusted around her heart for so many long years.

Lit from within by a flame of ecstasy, Anna trembled with the force of her heartbeat as the vivid physical, almost eidetic, memory of him – of _them_ – resonated through her entire being.

Their lips finally, reluctantly parted. As she gazed into his eyes contentment blossomed sweet and blissful in her soul, for a shining moment crystalline in time, with a glow like the rising sun.

It was like coming home.

-----


	7. Chapter 7

She raced toward Robert's room, fighting her new luggage that seemed to be alive with a perverse desire to trip her up at every opportunity. And then there had been the snarling traffic downtown. It had made her late, and he hated that.

"Oooh, sorry I'm late," she apologized as she opened the door and backed into his room, intent on keeping the roller from nipping at her heels. "The traffic was absolutely murder. Robert?"

She stopped still, staring around the room, into the hallway and back, her voice echoing in her ears. "Wha –"

The room was empty.

_No. I can't believe it. He's already gone. Oh, Robert, no._

-----

She sat on his bed, next to his discarded suitcase, reading the note again. 'I'll be waiting with the Mai-Thais, once I'm back to myself. Robert.'

Footsteps sounded behind her as she swiped with a tissue at her burning tears.

"Where's Dad?" Robin asked.

Anna grasped at the tattered remains of her composure and cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the lump of sorrow that had taken up residence there. "He's gone."

"What do you mean, he's gone?" Robin demanded. "He was just here."

"Ah, he left. Without me." _I understand why, but it still hurts so much._

Behind her she could hear Robin huff with frustration. "I'm gonna call you a car, you can meet him at JFK."

"No, don't," she stressed, turning. _Don't. He doesn't want me with him_. The realization burned in her mind, and never had there been a more bitter pill for her to swallow. _But I need to reassure Robin._ "He'll be fine."

She down stared at her hands as Robin protested. "Mom, he can't do this alone."

_Yes, he can._ Robert had never taken illness or injury well. She could still clearly recall all those years ago, the explosion in the police station when he had so nearly died. After he left the hospital she had insisted on taking him home and acting as both bodyguard and nursemaid.

He had suffered her care, but it had been a fraught, tormented time for them both. He had felt useless and stifled and raged with frustrated impotence, while she'd considered killing him herself when she could no longer bear his resentful, churlish attitude toward everyone who tried to help him. And then, to top it all off, he went and – still full of stitches and pain medication – rappelled off a balcony in a misguided effort to protect her, heedless of his own precarious health.

Perhaps it was for the best, then, that he was doing this on his own. He needed all of his attention – all of his formidable focus – to fully heal, and if she were there she would be a distraction from that. Not by anything she did or said, but by simply being there with him he would always be looking out for her, always putting her life and her wellbeing before his.

Maybe by being so damned selfish and proud he really was doing the best thing. And doing it on his own would restore his self-esteem, which she knew without question had taken a serious knock over the past few years. _Yes, it was the best thing, after all._ She nodded quickly several times as her conviction grew. "He _has_ to do it alone."

Robin moved to sit beside her on the bed.

Anna closed her eyes, listening to the sound of her aching heart echoing in her ears. _But oh how I'll miss him! Sometimes it just isn't fair._

"Oh, Mom." Anna both loved and hated the sympathy suffusing her daughter's voice. "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok." _It's not, not really._ "I suppose, um…deep down, I kind of knew that it had to be this way, you know?" The confession was as difficult and painful as crawling over broken glass.

She turned to look at her daughter full on. _Robin deserves to understand._ "Your father, he…he has to put himself back together." Trying for a smile, knowing that it didn't reach her eyes. "You know, he has to…become 'Robert Scorpio'" – she mimed the italics – "again."

"I just…" A sound that was part sigh, part sob escaped her. "I got…caught up in the moment." _Seduced yet again by Robert Xavier Scorpio. How many times has it been? You'd think I'd have learned by now. But I really hoped that, this time, he would be ok with my help, my presence. I'm so tired of being alone._

Robin sighed and leaned close, putting a comforting arm around Anna and resting her head on her mother's shoulder.

Anna closed her eyes in gratitude and gave her daughter a squeeze. _I'm not alone. Not completely. Nor is Robin. She has me, and Patrick…_ "You are so lucky," she whispered, letting just a little bit of her heartbreak show, "because…you get to spend the rest of your life with the man you love."

_As I love Robert. But I can bear this. And if I stay behind, if I do as I know he wants me to, it will give him a goal, something to get well for. Someone to come back to._

_And if he doesn't?_ a tiny, traitorous corner of her psyche demanded.

_If he doesn't…I'll survive. As long as he's alive, as long as I know he's out there somewhere in the world, I'll be alright._

_But he'll come back. He's promised. And Robert Scorpio always keeps his promises._

-----


	8. Epilogue

AN: Unlike all the dialogue from the main story, which was penned by Sri Rao and the other writers of GH: Night Shift, this Epilogue is wholly spun from my own wishful thinking.

-----

Anna sat in her darkened apartment, waiting. It had been nearly a year since he had walked out of General Hospital, on his way to the clinical trial in Bern. Alone. A year since she had found his note on the table with a promise that he wasn't walking out of her life forever – that he would come back to her.

Patrick had repeated for her what he'd explained to Robert: once the trial was over there would be a follow-up CT scan, PET scan in six months, the bag removed after a year. So if everything had gone as anticipated then the timing was just about right.

She fingered the note, now worn around the edges from repeated handling. Having read it hundreds of times she knew the words inside by heart. 'I'll be waiting with the Mai-Thais, once I'm back to myself. Robert.'

She'd held on to that promise like a lifeline for the past twelve months. Trusting him. Resisting the incessant urge to fly to Bern and override his wishes in order to be with him. Enduring the emptiness that pervaded her life without his presence in it. _He'll come back to me._

He knew where she was. He wouldn't make her go find him – though she'd do it in a heartbeat if she must. But no, something intrinsic in her bones told her that he would find her when he was ready. When he was healthy again.

And if it would be any night, it would be tonight.

_Unless he doesn't come. Unless he didn't really mean it. No! _she scolded herself as for a helpless instant her faith wavered dangerously._ He did mean it. He does._

And so she was waiting. _Hoping. Praying._

_Please let it be tonight._

There was a sound outside. Her senses stretched to the utmost, she thought she heard the faint tread of footsteps. _Or am I imagining it?_

Again she strained to hear, but there was nothing. _False alarm. _Anna gasped back a sob. _No! I can't be wrong about this. I couldn't bear it._

A light knock sounded on the door.

_Oh please, let it be him._

Anna opened the door with trembling hands – and there he was, standing on her mat with his old duffle bag slung over one shoulder. Her eyes drank him in. He looked fit, tanned and trim, rested. He looked well. _He looks…fantastic._

"Hello, Anna." His voice resonated deeply, powerfully in the evening air. His blue eyes sparkled with the old light – that intoxicating mixture of love, mischief and delight that never failed to captivate and hold her under its enthralling spell.

Like an offering, he held out the handle of a metal object that gleamed in the moonlight. It appeared to be a large pail, into which had been placed a jumble of cocktail glasses, a bag of melting ice, and bottles of pineapple juice, brandy and rum.

It was a bucket of Mai Thais.

"Happy Anniversary, luv."

She put her hand to her mouth, laughing and crying at the same time, overcome by the sudden sure knowledge – radiating through her, bright and true – that, starting tonight, she would be spending the rest of her life with the man she loved.

-----


End file.
